As part of an emerging pattern, another legal battle in Arizona soon will have the country buzzing again.
This time, the attention won’t come from immigration policy, border security or John McCain. Instead, Arizona is about to affect the election law universe in a way that will ignite political pundits’ debates for some time.

The Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission approved a rule change Thursday that would require candidates to turn over laptops and other fixed assets exceeding $200 or purchase them at half of the original price.

A Democratic lawmaker wants to require publicly funded candidates to give computers, printers, cameras and other fixed assets purchased with Clean Elections money to the state or buy them at a reduced price.

Arizona’s Clean Elections system may rise from the dead just long enough to slap the people who are dancing on its grave.

Rep. Ted Vogt, a Tucson Republican, plans to introduce a bill that would drastically raise the campaign contribution limits for privately funded candidates. But the voter-approved law that created the Clean Elections system may require a three-fourths vote in the Legislature to change the contribution limits, which could slam the door on a proposal that’s certain to face stiff opposition.

The lengthy reviews, administrative hurdles and general lack of swiftness that comes along with firing or disciplining government employees in Arizona sometimes invites dangerous and expensive outcomes, according to an extensive report from the Goldwater Institute, a libertarian government watchdog firm.

The Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission on Thursday put off voting on a proposed rule change that would require publicly financed candidates to return or purchase fixed assets such as laptops, printers and cameras.